Judge Rules No Prison Time for Amber Cummings

Amber Cummings will not be going to prison for killing her husband. The 32-year-old Belfast woman admitted to shooting her husband, James Cummings, as he slept in their home in December 2008.Thursday she was sentenced to six years probation, during which time she will continue treatment for what medical experts have described as extreme abuse and torture at the hands of her husband. Justice Jeffrey Hjelm said her eight-year prison sentence would all be suspended, after hearing the advice of medical experts. Several experts submitted reports and testified that after hundreds of hours of evaluation, they believed Amber Cummings should not be separated from her daughter, who was nine years old and in the home at the time of the shooting.They say for a decade, Amber Cummings experienced physical, mental and sexual abuse from her husband, the likes of which they had never before seen.”It would be more accurately described as torture than domestic violence, given the extreme nature of the behavior and the apparent gratification that he took from it,” says defense attorney Eric Morse.According to police reports, 29-year-old James Cummings also had materials for a dirty bomb in his home, which he had hoped to set off at the inauguration of President Obama.After the sentencing, Amber Cummings told reporters she now hopes for a normal life for her daughter.”It’s going to be very hard. It’s going to be a long road to recovery but I won’t give up on that for her. I will never give up on it. I’ll do everything I can for her to have a good life and a happy life. And I think so, given the community we live in right now think we do have a chance at a normal life, because they all love us and they’re here every day.”Several dozen members of the community were at the sentencing. Many said they were relieved she would not be going to prison.”She’s a very compassionate, wonderful mom. She thinks of nothing but her daughter. All she wants is the best for her,” says one friend, Michelle Small.The state had asked the judge for Amber Cummings to serve one year in prison.